City of tomorrow

Not really a bright future, but if someone saw this today as if it was real life depiction, they would have thought, man, humanity has gone to shit. The reality is, there really are places like this in the world. I can't even call it fiction, or sci-fi, because this really does exist in many places.
One particular place is in Hong Kong, called Kowloon City. It is no longer there, but this was a place for the poor, but also a hide out for the criminal elements, where the cops wouldn't even go, because the place was so dangerous(if you were unwanted). There is this book called "The City of Darkness", that has this amazing set of photos. It's art in many senses, but also very depressing. 
Anyways, not a political commentary, but just an observation...